In sickness and in health
by My Wayward Unicorn
Summary: Light and L are attached to each other because of the Kira investigation. However, L suddenly falls ill. The Task Force thinks it's a regular cold, but by time they will realize that the world's greatest detective has something much worse... Not yaoi. L and Light are simply friends in this one.
1. Chapter 1 Not alright

Death note fanfiction:

 _In sickness and in health_

Chapter One: _Not alright_

 **Monday**

Light Yagami opened his eyes in the middle of the night. The room was dark, but a small beam of light was shimmering under the bathroom door. The brown-haired teen raised his hand and noticed that there was no other hand in the end of the chain – the chain that shackled him to L, the greatest detective in the world. They were investigating the serial killer Kira's case together, and unfortunately L suspected Light to be Kira. To prove his innocence Light now had to be chained to L at all times. But what was L doing now?

Light heard some noise from the bathroom, and he got out of bed. The floor felt cool under his bare feet, and the boy rubbed his tired eyes before walking to the bathroom. He knocked on the door two times.

"Ryuzaki? Is everything alright?"

Light heard L's exhausted voice from the other side of the door:

"I'm fine, just go back to sleep."

Light furrowed his brows. What was he doing there?

"Ryuzaki?"

"No, leave me alone", he answered. Now Light was absolutely sure something was wrong – L never asked him to leave. Especially when they had been chained to each other for the past two weeks.

Light opened the door. He saw L on his knees, bending over the toilet. The detective's thin body was shivering. The black-haired man raised his head and leaned back against the wall. Light sighed and seated next to him. The brown-haired young man raised his hand to L's forehead – it was burning up.

"You have a fever. No working tomorrow, Ryuzaki." L blinked his big, gray eyes. "It's alright, this is just a cold, I'm sure it'll pass if I take some medicine."

Light rolled his eyes. "You'll do what you want of course, but I still think you should rest."

L started pushing himself up – the detective almost lost his balance and Light grabbed his arm to support his friend.

After a while Light found some fever-lowering medicine in the bathroom closet. He filled a glass with water before giving the pills to L.

"Thank you", L murmured and took a sip of water before swallowing the pills.

"Come back to bed and try to get some sleep, okay?"

L nodded and they both walked back into their warm beds. The black-haired man grabbed the chain from Light's hand and handcuffed himself in the other end. After that he went to his own bed. Light's and L's beds were about ten centimeters away from each other, and the chain was two meters long so they had plenty of room to sleep.

"Good night, Light-kun", L said and curled up under his blankets.

"Night, Ryuzaki. You can wake me up if you need anything", Light answered before laying his head on the pillow again.

. . . . . .

Light's alarm got off at seven a.m. and the brown-haired boy turned it off within seconds. He sighed against his pillow and forced his eyes open. L was staring at him from his own bed, clearly impatient.

"Remove the shackle, Ryuzaki, I'm going to go and take a shower", Light murmured.

"Sure", L answered and unlocked Light's handcuff. Then the teen got up and stretched himself.

Light took a shower, dressed up and made himself a sandwich. After that he was ready for another day of tracking down Kira.

L put the handcuff back on as soon as Light was ready, and the two boys walked down the stairs.

"Feeling better, Ryuzaki?" Light asked, remembering last night's incident.

"Never better, thanks for asking", was L's response. _Well of course. Even if he was feeling ill he'd never show it._

 _. . . . . .  
_

It was about midday. Everybody had already arrived to the Task Force, and L had seemed absolutely fine all morning, but now Light started noticing some worrying signs – the world's greatest detective didn't look like he was feeling fine anymore. His skin was white as milk and the black bags under his eyes were even darker than usual. Also Light noticed he had started shaking.

 _The fever must be coming back… I told him he should've stayed in bed!_

Light motioned Matsuda to come closer. The black-haired man walked closer.

"Yes, Light?"

"Could you get a blanket for Ryuzaki? And maybe a glass of water? He is sick." Matsuda's brows jumped higher and he looked at L with concern in his eyes.

"Of course."

Matsuda almost ran to grant Light's wish. "Thanks", L whispered to Light. The teen nodded and got back to his work.

Matsuda came back quickly. L looked thankful as Matsuda wrapped the blanket around his slim shoulders.

"There you go, Ryuzaki", Matsuda smiled and gave him a friendly pat on the back.

"You're very kind to me. Thank you", L said and took a sip of water. There was some candy and strawberry cake on the table, but they remained untouched. Loss of appetite was something that was extremely rare for L – he ate cake and other unhealthy food every day. This made Light definitely sure he was sick.

"You should go back to bed, Ryuzaki", Light said quitly. "Get some rest. They'll manage."

L shook his head. "I'm sure you would, but I want to be here. If my state gets too bad I will tell you. Also, if I leave, then so will you."

Light nodded and turned back at his computer. He was investigating Yotsuba's files. The Yotsuba Company was the center of the recent Kira murders and somewhere there, in the thousands of files, could be the answer to solving this case.

"Is Ryuzaki sick?" Aizawa asked walking closer and putting down a cup of coffee next to L. Light nodded.

"Yes he is, he just doesn't want to admit it."

"You know, if you aren't going to eat the cake then you should at least drink some coffee to function."

L stared at the coffee cup and after a while he nodded. "Thank you, Aizawa. I appreciate it."

"Yeah, no problem. But in my opinion, you should go and rest. It's not good for you to stay up when being sick."

. . . . . .

By 3 p.m. L had already taken another dose of medicine, but they weren't so effective this time. The detective looked exhausted and his judgement seemed a bit clouded. Light noticed him shivering, though he was wrapped up in the blanket. Also, L had suffered a couple of violent fits of cough.

"Go to bed, Ryuzaki", Light said. The messy-haired man shook his head stubbornly. Light bent closer to L and lowered his voice.

"Ryuzaki – if you don't rest, your sickness only gets worse. Please, listen to me, I can't just watch you do this to yourself", he persuaded. L gave out a sigh – but was interrupted by a sudden fit of cough. As soon as it was over he nodded.

"Perhaps you're right… I'll go and sleep a few hours and I should be able to function again."

Light shook his head with frustration. "No, L. You are not a machine, you are a human-being and you need to let your body rest and recover."

L didn't say anything, but he got up from the chair, still not giving up the blanket. "We'll be back in few hours. If you find anything interesting, we'll be right few floors higher", Ryuzaki said to others. Light's father and Aizawa looked at each other. Light knew them – they would never disturb L right now for almost anything. The case could wait.

L had to stop in stairs once to catch his breath. Light started feeling more and more concerned for his friend. They made it to their room, and L immediately fell on his bed. _Why do you have to be so damn stubborn? Why c_ _an'_ _t you just take care of your body for once?_

"Ryuzaki. How bad is it really?" Light asked while seating on his own bed. L opened his big, grey eyes half-open.

"It's pretty bad", he whispered weakly. "My lungs are burning up…"

"The stairs can't be good for you. Please stay here until you get better, Ryuzaki."

"But Light-kun..." L turned his head and looked at him "you're going to have to stay here too", he said and waved his cuffed hand, rattling the chain loudly.

Light sighed. "It's alright. I'll just ask someone to bring my laptop here."

"It would be so much easier you know… if I just took some medicine and we could get back to work."

"You won't function with just medicine, Ryuzaki. You haven't eaten anything since yesterday. You have trouble breathing. You have to consider the fact that you may have to go and see a doctor."

L shook his head immediately. "No doctors. I'll be fine."

Light narrowed his eyes. "Watari is in Australia you know. He's not coming back until next Monday. He will turn me into a potholder if anything happens to you."

L smirked. "Well maybe I'll just rest then… if it's so important."


	2. Chapter 2: Weakening

Death note fanfiction:

 _In sickness and in health_

Chapter Two: _Weakening_

 **Tuesday**

The next morning was bright and sunny – but L insisted that the curtains were closed. The man hated sunlight. During the night Light had to move the wastebin next to L's bed – just in case, though the detective hadn't been feeling nauseous.

L was lying on his back. It was ten a.m. He had slept for fifteen hours straight. He now felt better than yesterday night. He wondered if he could get Light agree on the fact that he could function and go to work.

The raven-haired man grabbed some medicine for his headache and put them in his mouth. He noticed that swallowing was harder than ever before. L hadn't really noticed earlier, but now he realized how soar his throat was. It felt dry like a desert and the air felt wrong in his systems. He couldn't stop himself from coughing a little.

It was enough to wake Light up. The young man looked around still sleepy. His hair was very messy and L assumed he had stayed up late last night.

"Morning, Ryuzaki", Light said and rubbed his left eye.

"Morning, Light", L said. He suddenly realized how it talking actually hurt – his voice was hoarse and every word was tearing his throat apart.

"Wow", Light stated. "You sound like a crow." L collapsed back to his bed.

"Misa called, by the way", he cawed. "She'll be here at twelve."

"Okay", Light sighed. "The key, please?"

L reached out to take the key from his pocket, and he unlocked Light's handcuff just like yesterday.

When Light got back from shower, L tried to clear up his throat.

"You know… I'm feeling much better, so couldn't we just go back to work?"

Light glanced at his friend over his shoulder. "Not a chance", he answered. "You will stay in bed all day. I called Watari yesterday night. He gave me some instructions."

L raised his head. "What kind of instructions?" he asked suspiciously. Light smiled a little.

"I made a list of things you'll be needing. I'll send Misa to get these for you."

L reached out for the little piece of paper Light had in his hand. It was just a list of different medicines.

"That's nice of you. Thank you."

"Not at all", Light answered.

It was ten to twelve a.m. when L heard an impatient knock on the door. _Misa Amane._ It was definitely Light's overactive girlfriend.

"Just a second!" Light shouted back at door. "Ryuzaki, I need to open the door." L reluctantly hatched out of his blankets and followed Light to the other side of the room. The back of his head was aching like hell, but he didn't complain.

Misa didn't immediately throw herself to Light's neck, which was really weird of her – but then L saw she was carrying a tray. There was a glass of water and a bowl of hot soup on it.

"Mister Yagami told me to get this to Ryuzaki", Misa said and smiled to L.

"Thank you, Misa", he said. Light took the tray and carried it to L's nightstand. The detective's muscles felt exhausted and weak from just walking across the room. He sighed and tasted the soup. It was pretty tasteless, clearly meant for sick people. The heat felt good in his throat. He ate one spoonful, then another, before pushing the plate away from him. The nausea hit again, and L laid his head on the pillow and closed his eyes.

"Come on, Ryuzaki. You only ate a couple of spoonfuls", Light said. "Do you feel nauseous?"

"Yes. Don't worry about it, I'm not hungry", L answered without opening his eyes. There was a little silent moment before Light and Misa started talking again. L wasn't listening to them, he was only focusing on not throwing up.

L grabbed the key and unchained it. Light looked confused as L got up and started teetering towards the bathroom door. He sat beside the toilet and leaned his back on the wall. His head was tilting and his throat was swelling.

"Damn this illness", L murmured to himself, and coughed a couple of times. Nausea was bad, but L didn't really have anything to throw up. His stomach felt empty, but he wasn't particularly hungry. In fact, all thoughts about food made him even more nauseous.

. . . . . .

L had fallen asleep in the bathroom. Light was watching him by the door. The brown-haired boy sighed and walked closer to his friend.

"Ryuzaki?"

No respond. Deep sleep. The teen sighed once again and then lifted L's small and sheet-pale body in his arms. He was surprised by how light-weighted the man actually was – it was easy to carry him to the bed.

Misa raised his head when Light came back carrying Ryuzaki. She blinked her eyes. "Is he okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, but in deep sleep. I'd rather let him sleep now so Misa – could I ask a huge favor from you?" Light asked as he laid L back in his bed and wrapped a warm blanket around him.

"Anything, Light", Misa answered, staring at Light passionately.

"Ryuzaki is going to need these. Take someone like Matsuda with you, and go buy these, will you? I would be grateful", Light softened his face. Misa gave him her sweetest smile.

"Of course, Light", she answered blinking her long, black eyelashes. Light smiled at her. "Thank you, Misa." Then he gave her a kiss on the cheek. Misa looked mesmerized as she took the list Light was offering and as she walked out of the room. Light smiled and looked back at L.

His friend looked so calm, so… vulnerable. He had never seen L looking so humanlike. His face was relaxed, but the breaths he drew were short and disorganized. Light wondered once again the mystery of his intelligent friend – who was he actually? In the end, Light actually knew very little about the gifted detective. How did he even become the world's greatest detective? Did he have any family? What was his real name?

Light laid back and turned his head to his laptop. L would want him to investigate Kira case at this moment – not to wonder about the detective's past.

. . . . . .

"Light?"

A weak, rattling voice came from the bottom of L's bed. Light turned his head. "Oh, you're awake at last. You fell asleep in the bathroom and slept for good five hours", he said.

Silence.

"… really?"

"Yep."

Then Light saw L's messy black hair rise from the pile of blankets. He looked paler than usual and he was shivering. "Fever rising again, apparently", Light murmured. He handed L the thermometer. The skinny young man tucked it under his tongue and started waiting.

"Misa went shopping with Matsuda, and they brought you some stuff", Light said. "These'll help to reduce your fever and also help for the nausea", he presented a little package of medicine. "And here we have some honey flavoured throat pastilles, more breathmints and some melatonin pills to help you sleep, in case you can't get any sleep."

L just nodded his head a little.

"Okay, it should be ready now", Light stated after a while, and reached out to take the thermometer back. His eyes widened.

"Wow… your temperature is 103.4. That's pretty bad, Ryuzaki", Light said and looked into L's grey eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Cold", L answered.


	3. Chapter 3: Cold

Death note fanfiction:

 _In sickness and in health_

Chapter Three: _Cold_

 **Wednesday**

Light woke up and feeling well rested and warm, but a little hungry. The first thing he did was checked L, who was lying in his bed, still eyes closed. The young detective had been sleeping almost all the time for the past few days. Light looked at his calm face for a moment. L coughed in his sleep and started shaking.

Light touched L's forehead and could immediately tell he had a high fever. _Poor L. How long is this going to last?_

Light took the key from L's pocket and unlocked the chains to go shower himself. If he was lucky, he could get back to L without even waking him up. The brown-haired teen had started to feel a bit worried for his own health too – what if whatever L had caught would make him sick too? Ryuzaki was clearly in pain. Light did not want the same fate.

Light made some soup for L for a breakfast – the man hadn't eaten a thing since he got sick. But when he had a high fever like that it would be important for him to drink even more. When L's body temperature was as high as 103.5, his body consumed much more fluid. And if this went on any longer they would have no choice but to take L to a hospital – without nutrition his body could fail.

It was 1 p.m. when L finally woke up. Light suddenly noticed how skinny the detective looked. His skin was as white as the shirt he was wearing.

"Hey, Ryuzaki. You should take those", the teen said and pointing his finger at the nightstand where he had placed some pills and a glass of water.

"You need to drink and stay dehydrated."

L didn't answer – Light assumed his throat was in a bad shape – and took a sip of his drink. Then he took the pills and swallowed them with some struggle. Light felt a sudden wave of pity. L, the world's greatest detective, who had so many names – Ryuzaki, Hideki Ryûga, Deneuve, Eraldo Coil – and whose skills were known throughout the whole world. He had solved every case he ever had, and the detective was only twenty-five years old. And now – this miserable and weak creature whose breathing was hoarse and who just threw up all his medicine out of his system, was that same man. In the end, L was just a human.

"You can't keep the medicine in", Light said with a concerned tone. "That's bad… the fever will just keep getting higher. Wait a second, will you?"

L nodded and Light unchained himself. He went to the bathroom and grabbed one of the clean hand towls from the closet. He pushed the towel under an ice-cold water. He then took the soaked towel to his friend.

Light placed the towel on L's forehead and the detective shivered violently. "Thanks", he croaked.

"Get some rest, Ryuzaki."

Apparently L couldn't stop trembling. Light was glancing him now and then, and saw him shaking violently under his three blankets. _Why isn't the fever going down? His body can't take this much longer._

"Want some soup?" Light asked. L shook his head. "Don't waste a pefectly good soup. I can't hold it in."

"You should try… you need some nutrition you know."

L let out a shivering sigh. _Well, at least he's not coughing so much anymore. At least the honey tea was helpful._

"I'll try."

Light got up and looked at L, hesitating a little. "Would it be alright if we didn't use the cuffs as long as we stay in the same room? I need to walk around pretty much so the cuffs just slow it down."  
L opened his eyes and Light blinked when he saw L's eyes. They looked big and dark and bright, and there was something else too – it was wisdom and intelligence. Those qualities would never leave L, no matter how sick he would get. _Right this moment he is thinking if I can be trusted._

Seconds felt like hours, but finally L nodded and laid his head back

"But we will be using the cuffs at night. Daytime we can be without them." Light breathed out and he had to admit that L knew how to scare the shit out of people. The gaze of his eyes was just simply intimidating.

"Okay."

Light brought the soup to his friend, who gave it a tired look. L slowly made hsi way into a comfortable eating position. He ate a couple of spoonfuls, then a couple of more. After that he seemed to be done. _Well, that's a start I guess._

L looked completely exhausted after sitting just five minutes. He fell back under his blankets and started trembling again. Light felt a wave of frustration – and also desperation – running through him.

 _I don't know how to help you._

"Thank you for being so kind to me, Light-kun", L said suddenly and gave a tired smile to his friend. Light startled a little. L was kind of right – there were only few people he actually would do this for.

"No problem. We are friends. And we need you back as soon as possible, so you should just focus on getting better", Light answered. L nodded, but didn't look away.

"You seem to be pretty good at this, by the way", L said with his quiet, hoarse voice. "Taking care of sick people I mean."

Light smiled a little. "Yeah well, I guess this reminds me of all the times I took care of Sayu. Sha was often sick as a child."

L nodded. "I see."

It was one of those moments where Light wished that Watari was there. He was usually always taking care of Ryuzaki, but now Watari was gone and the responsibility was on Light's shoulders. He knew no one would accuse him of anything, but still he felt like L was his responsibility right now. Some little part of Light felt like L was a little ten-year-old Sayu, who needed his brothers caretaking. Even though L was several years older than him, Light knew he was way more mature than the detective. Light was only eighteen, but he was way more responsible and mature than most of his age, and L in the other hand was twenty-five and childish than all others his age.

Therefore, Light felt like the one who was responsible if L… if something happened to L. If he got worse than what he already was. Light had tried to convince L to go to the doctor with him, but he was so damn stubborn! He couldn't just admit that he needed help of a professional.

L had started coughing again and his breathing seemed troubled. He looked absolutely exhausted, but the coughing would not allow him to get any sleep. His eyes were closed though, so Light decided to surf a little in the internet.

The Kira case could wait. There were four people investigating it on that very moment already. Light was going to find out what was wrong with his friend – because it surely wasn't just an ordinary cold.

Light's eyes were working fast when he read the symptoms of the illnesses. _Pneumonia. ARDS. Could it be that he ate some bad cake or something?_

Light kept studying the sicknesses, and as the time passed, L's condition got worse.

A sudden fit of cough caught L and Light looked quickly at him. He patted him on the back and offered him a paper. L grabbed it and took it in front of his mouth – and kept coughing.

Quietly the coughing faded and L removed the paper from his mouth. He furrowed his brows as he saw – there was a clump of blood on the white paper, and Light's eyes widened.

"L, I think you could have a pneumonia", Light said quietly. He had just read all about how it could cause bloody coughing. All the symptoms seemed to match – but of course Light couldn't be sure.

"How could I possibly catch a pneumonia? I never leave here", L murmured. Light sighed and shook his head. "No idea."

Suddenly L gasped in some air. He started breathing unusually rapidly and his breaths were irregular gasps. Light couldn't do anything but watch – he tried to comfort his friend and make him feel better by squeezing his shoulder. _Pathetic. I can't do anything else about this._

After a long period of five minutes L could breathe a little better again. He slowly fell back to bed. If he had had energy before this, he didn't have it anymore. Light had never seen anyone who looked so tired – but he knew from the irregular breaths the black-haired man took that he would'nt be able to get any sleep. Light grabbed the sleeping pills and took one out of the bottle.

"Ryuzaki. Try to swallow this and you could be able to sleep", Light asked quietly. L didn't move – was he too tired to even move. Then L, with his last remaining strength, raised his upper body and took the pill. It would take couple of hours for it to effect, but it better now than never.

"Why is it... so cold in here?" L's weak and silent voice reached Light's ears.

"It's very warm in here, Ryuzaki. Your fever is just getting highed. I'll go and bring you another cold towel."

L's face wasn't looking sleepy anymore – instead his big eyes were full of pain. The detective slowly curled up in a ball and closed his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4: Bad

Death note fanfiction

 _In sickness and in health_

Chapter Four: _Bad_

 **Thursday**

"We should go and make a visit to Light's and L's room. We don't really know what's going on there", Matsuda said. He couldn't deny his concern for his friends – Light and L had been out of sight for two days already, and the investigation wasn't making any progress.

"You're right", chief Yagami said suddenly. Matsuda blinked quickly – it was so awesome to hear the chief say that to him!

"I say we go check up with them. I'll take some files to Light, too", Aizawa suggested. "And we can look if Ryuzaki needs anything."

"Sounds like a plan", Mogi stated. Matsuda nodded and got up from his chair. The four men started moving towards the stairs.

"What do you think Ryuzaki has?" Matsuda asked.

"It's probably just a cold", Mogi answered and scratched his neck.

"Misa said it was pretty bad to be a cold, though", Matsuda added. Right now Misa was modeling for some womens' magazine. She had left to Tokyo early on yesterday morning.

The men had reached the right floor, and they walked to the right room's door. Chief Yagami gave it a loud knock.

It took a moment before Light opened the door. He looked tired and his hair was still messy.

"Sorry, did we wake you up?" chief Yagami grimaced. "It's midday, son."

Light rub his face. "No, I was awake already. Ryuzaki is bad though, and he's been coughing all night. It's been kind of hard to get any sleep."

The mens' faces turned worried. "How is he?" Light looked his father in the eyes. "Not so well." He kept a little break. "You can come in, I guess."

"Ryuzaki! You awake?" Light called out.

"Yeah", a tired, quiet and hoarse voice answered. They walked closer and there he was – Ryuzaki was lying on his bed under a thick blanket. He even had two other blankets at the end of his bed.

"He can't be under all those, his fever has to be lowered somehow", Light explained. The men slowly walked closer. Matsuda saw now how sick L actually looked like – the man was as pale as the sheets he was lying on (he was always pale but not just this bad), the black bags under his eyes were darker than ever and his big, dark-grey eyes seemed way too big to his head. He looked skinnier than ever, and his bony fingers were holding a bloodstained tissue.

The whole group was speechless. They had expected _a cold._

"How are you, Ryuzaki?" chief Yagami asked, concern in his voice. Ryuzaki blinked once and coughed a couple of times.

"A little better than yesterday", he answered. His voice sounded like a sick crow.

"You look horrible", Matsuda blurted and Aizawa kicked his foot. _Ouch!_

"I'll be fine", L said and coughed a little again.

"You sure? Shouldn't you go to a hospital or have a private doctor or something?" Matsuda asked. L shook his head.

"...Too risky. Someone could find out my records are fake... I will not go to a hospital unless on a brink of death... And doctors are way too easilly corrupted... He could sell his information to someone… So no thank you, I will probably heal by myself anyway..." L suffered a violent fit of cough after talking so much.

"Yeah, sure, you'll be absolutely fine. L, you need more than just some painkillers. You need IVs, and a proper medication. I'm calling Watari", chief Yagami sounded determined. The young detective didn't say anything when the chief chose Watari's number.

"… yes, Watari. What? I can't hear you… Yes, Ryuzaki is very sick… He needs to go to a hospital… I said that he needs to go to a hospital. Watari? Watari-" the chief put down his cell phone and looked disappointed.

"The connection was horrible. He'll call me back as soon as he can, I'm sure."

L's face was expressionless. Matsuda saw how the detective had started shaking, but how he clearly tried to hold it back. The black-haired man took a sip from his glass of water and then lied his head back.

"Any news about Kira?" L asked suddenly. Matsuda startled – Ryuzaki was clearly not able to work at the moment.

"Nothing that would be worth your energy… I brought some files to Light", chief Yagami answered. L's eyes were half-open as he wacthed how Light took the pile of files and put them on his bed.

"Alright, we'll head back now", Yagami said. Then the chief turned to L.

"And you – get some rest. We need you."

Then he turned around and started making his way to the door. Aizawa and Mogi followed him.

"Get better soon, Ryuzaki", Matsuda said before going after others.

Matsuda's thoughts were a mess – L had always been so _strong_ , so _powerful_ , and he hadn't even thought that he was actually just a human being. Matsuda had never seen L so _vulnerable_ before… he had looked too weak to even sit up. He couldn't do anything else but hope for the best…

Light was showering and L saw his laptop on his bed. The detective reached his skinny arms and grabbed it. He almost dropped the damn thing though – somehow his muscles had forgotten how to function. L opened it and started going though the information Light had recieved.

 _Another dead company leader… Yotsuba keeps climbing… Nothing relevant._ L went through some files and tried to find something new and interesting. Suddenly he realized that Light had stopped showering. He quickly opened google right when Light came out of the bathroom. He narrowed his eyes.

"Ryuzaki… what do you think you're doing?"

"Nothing important."

Light strided across the room and took the laptop back to himself.

"Come on, I was in Google Maps trying to find Hogwarts", L protested. Light rolled his eyes. "You're bored, I get it. Read a book or something, but I'm not letting you work unless you eat at least half of your soup." L grimaced and glanced at his soup, that was probably cool already.

He was feeling rather good, so he took the bowl and started to eat. It felt weird, but food felt rather good, so he bravely ate some more. He ate precisely half of the soup, and left the half-empty bowl on the nightstand.

"Now. Let me work."

Light seemed quite impressed. "Hm… actually, I want you to go take a shower first. Then I promise I'll give you some files."

Apparently eating hadn't been such a good idea. After three hours of eating L had thrown it all up in the bathroom toilet. Light had helf back his hair – it was rather long. He was still sick – though he had been feeling better this day, his coughing and fever were now slowly returning. L had also just thrown up all his recently taken medicine.

Misa came back from Tokyo at eight p.m. and the first thing she did was run to their room and throw herself to Light's neck.

"Oh Light! I missed you so much, it's so good to be back here with you!"

"Yes, it's nice to have you back, Misa", Light answered. Misa turned back at L.

"Hey, Ryuzaki, you look kinda bad… not feeling any better, huh?"

"Not really", L answered without opening his eyes.

"Oh, poor Ryuzaki", Misa said and stroked his hair. "You'll be fine."

"Mm."

Misa had left just after midnight and Light was finally getting to sleep. L had taken some more medicine, and the sleeping pills, but he hadn't been able to hold them in – he had thrown them up to the wastebin next to his bed.

"Try to get some sleep, Ryuzaki", Light murmured before turning off the lights. L felt the pain increasing in his lungs and how breathing was getting harder and harder. He took a sip of water and swallowed it with some struggle. The cough just wouldn't leave him alone.

It was going to be a difficult night.


	5. Chapter 5: Worse

Death note fanfiction:

 _In sickness and in health_

Chapter Five: _Worse_

 **Friday**

Light woke up after hearing a loud thud and a sudden flounce – his cuffed hand was stretched to it's brink and Light murmured something inaproppriate by himself before switching on the table lamp. Suddenly his eyes widened – L wasn't in his bed. Light immediately jumped on his feet and hurried over to the L's bedside.

L was lying on the ground on his stomach, his body covered in a thin layer of sweat and his eyes closed. Light grabbed his arm and suddenly the brown-haired boy froze. He blinked a couple of times and then pulled himself together. L's skin felt like it was burning. His temperature was life-threateningly high, there was no doubt.

"L! Wake up! You're roasting..." Light said loudly, and shook L's skinny body. There was no reaction, so L tried to find the key to unlock the chains from the detective's pockets – but didn't find it. Light grabbed the thermometer and stuck it to L's mouth.

"Where's the key? I need the key!" Light was frustrated, and laid L back to the floor. The brunette teen started looking for the key from L's sheets. He would have to go to the kitchen to get some ice. Light cussed in frustration when he didn't see the small key anywhere. L was only half-concious. Light grabbed the thermometer and stared at the numbers.

 _107.6._

"Fuck it", Light stated. Then he lifted L's unnaturally feverish and lightweighted body in his arms. Light took a deep breath and walked quickly to the bathroom. He turned the bathtub's tap on and he made sure the water was as cold as possible. Light took a better grip of the languid detective. L's body temperature made Light sweat too. He rushed out of their room and carried him one floor lower. Light's arms were a little soar already, but he didn't care about that.

He wouldn't let L fall.

Light opened the freezer and took all the ice he could find. He packed them in a plastic bag before picking L up on his arms again. The detective's breaths were loud and irregular gasps.

"Ryuzaki?" Light tried to wake his friend up as the teen carried him back to their room. "Wake up..."

L made no reaction. His face was absolutely expressionless. _Fuck._

Light made it back to the bathroom, and turned the water down – there was enough water already. He ripped the ice bags open and threw all the ice to the tub. The coldness was almost radiating from the tub. The teen's fingers were freezing after the last ice bag. Light turned his attention back to L.

"Ryuzaki. I'm sorry, but this is necassery." Then he lifted L up and then he carefully placed him in the ice water. His temperature had to be lowered – quickly.

A few seconds passed. Then L's eyes opened wide. The detective let out a weak and quiet scream. " _What the-_ "

The detective tried to get up, but Light pushed his friends chest down with his hand and made him lay back. "You can't come out yet", he said. L was gasping loudly. "Let me out", he begged with a thin voice.

"Soon", Light answered, unable to look at his friend's suffering face. After about 20 seconds Light helped the uncontrollably shaking detective out of the tub and wrapped a towel around him. L slowly seated on the bathroom floor and laid his head against the wall.

"I have to find the key so that you can change your clothes..." Light stated. Ryuzaki didn't say anything, he was still shivering violently, but the teen helped him up and supported him as they walked out of the bedroom. L slowly flopped on the floor and sat there. His teeth were clattering loudly.

Finally Light found the damn key – it was there, in Ryuzaki's bed but he had simply just missed it while he had looked for it. Light unlocked the cuffs and went to get some dry clothes to L – a white shirt and blue pants, completely identical to ones he was already wearing.

"Thanks", L whispered.

. . . . . .

While L was getting changed, Light tried to reach Watari. The phone went straight to voice mail – Watari never did that unless in the middle of something extremely important. Maybe he was in a meeting right now.

Light sighed and placed his phone back to his nightstand. L was slowly climbing back to his bed.

"L", the brown-haired teen stated. "You need to go to a hospital. This is too far."

"It was just a fever..."

Light turned around and shouted:

"It was a fever of a 107.6!"

L didn't say anything for a while. "I feel better already. There's no need." Light stared at him for couple of seconds before turning his back on him and getting back to his own bed.

 _Damn L. Why couldn't he just listen? He's so fucking stubborn!_

Light closed his eyes. It was 6 a.m. He still had some time to sleep.

. . . . . .

When Light woke up, L's fever wasn't so high anymore. Instead the detective was coughing more and more by every hour. His breathing was hoarse, and it was wheezing. Light wasn't looked at the detective with an unhappy look on his face.

"Ryuzaki. Hospital."

"...No."

Light sighed in frustration and suddenly his phone rang. It was Watari!

"Hello… ght... s…. zaki… ay?"

"What? No, Watari I can't hear you, the connection is too bad", Light sighed again and turned off the call. He and L glared each other. Suddenly Light's cellphone started ringing again – this time it was Misa. Light breathed out and raised the cell next to his ear.

"Light!" Misa yelled at the phone. "How did you sleep? And I needed some ice for my drink but I couldn't find any."

Light looked at his friend, who was breathing heavily under his blankets.

"Ryuzaki's fever was dangerously high. I had to do something to bring it down."

Misa's voice was now admiring.

"Really? What did you do, exactly?"

"I made him an ice bath." His girlfriend let out a terrified gasp. "That's horrible! But so heroic from you, Light!" Misa wasn't waiting for an answer and kept going:

"How is Ryuzaki? Can I come over?"

"He is pretty bad… but I suppose you could come here."

"Yay!" Misa shouted and ended the call.

. . . . . .

Light seated on his bedside and glanced at his friend.

"How are you feeling, Ryuzaki?"

"I'm… fine."

"Are you telling me I shouldn't be worried?"

L didn't answer anything for a little while.

"Try to understand… I might very well get better on my own... and a public hospital... is very dangerous for me... If they find out my ID is fake... we'd have to tell them the truth and I don't know how they'd take it…."

L coughed a little and Light could see blood on his tissue. The detective looked his friend sraight in the eyes.

"We can't rule out the possibility that Kira is behind this… that he is making me suffer before my death, and my body simply fails one day..."

"Don't say that", Light murmured. L smiled a little and coughed some more.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Light-kun."

Misa came over and he also made some soup for L. The detective was coughing and his breathing was loud, but he smiled to Misa and thanked for the soup – though he didn't even touch it.

"You look like a skeleton, Ryuzaki", Light murmured to his friend. "Without nutrition your body will fail. Wouldn't you go to the hospital?"

"I'll be fine."


	6. Chapter 6: The Worst

Death note fanfiction:

 _In sickness and in health_

Chapter Six: _The worst_

 **Saturday**

Light went to bed early and he fell asleep almost immediately. L was coughing and shivering under his blankets, unable to fall asleep. He was feeling feverish and his lungs felt like they were burning up. Earlier he had breathed in some hot steam to make breathing easier, but it only helped for a while.

L had a sudden and violent fit of cough and he did his best to keep his word down. He felt a excruciating pain inside his lungs. He felt like his breaths weren't giving him enough oxygen. L felt like he was choking, and he was gasping to get more air.

"… Light-" he tried to wake up his friend, but his voice was thin and quiet. His friend was still in deep sleep.

. . . . . .

Light woke up. First he wasn't quite sure why, though – no noise or anything like that. It was perfectly quiet and peaceful. He sighed and turned to his other side, trying to fall asleep again.

But then – a sudden thought caught his head.

The reason he woke up was not because of noise – _it was because of the silence_.

Light switch on the lamp on his nightstand and now wide awake looked at L's bed.

The detective was under one of his blankets, perfectly still. His thin chest wasn't moving, nor was his mouth gasping for more air.

 _Oh god._

Light jumped off his bed, the chain between him and L loudly rattling, when he hurried off to L's bedside. The brown-haired teen took a closer look at the detective's chest. There was no any kind of movement at all. His skin was still extremely feverish, so he hadn't been like this for a long… Light tried L's wrist for pulse. There was none.

 _L is not breathing. He is… dead._

 _Not breathing._

 _He is dead.  
_

 _Is dead._

 _Dead-_

"NO!" Light screamed, and grabbed L's bony shoulders. "Ryuzaki! Wake up!" _Please wake up…_

Light grabbed L's upper body and quickly removed him to the floor.

" _We can't rule out the possibility that Kira is behind this… that he is making me suffer before my death, and my body simply fails one day..."_ L's words were echoing inside his head.

Light placed L on his back on the floor – then he knelt next to the detective's body. He put his hands on L's chest, right on his heart. _You're wrong, Ryuzaki. I won't let you die!_

Light used his whole upper body strength – and pushed L's thin chest up and down.

"One, two, three..." Light counted. "Come on, L – ten, eleven, twelve..."

L's face was white as milk and his eyes were half-open and dull, glancing into nothing. His mouth was a little bit open. The detective's face was somehow… peaceful. No pain, no nothing.

"Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!"

There was still no sign of life in L's body. His face looked like it was frozen still, skeleton-skinny face with black bags under his eyes - half-open, gray eyes that looked unnaturally big in his skull. His cheekbones were clearly visible through his thin skin. Light tilted L's head back a little, covered the detectives nose with his fingers and then pressed his mouth against L's white lips, trying to breathe life back in him.

Nothing. Light stared at his friend's lifeless body. He blinked his eyes violently and felt the tears burning in the corners of his eyes.

"No", he whispered. "I must keep going."

He started pressing L's chest again - "Five, six, seven, eight…"

Nothing.

"Nine, ten..."

 _Eleven._

 _Twelve._

 _Thirteen-_

The black-haired man gasped some air and started coughing violently. Light had never felt so relieved and he gulped, staring at his friend who was _alive_. He couldn't help but to wrap his arms around L's unnaturally skinny body.

"You're alive… you're alive..." Light repeated to himself. L carefully hugged him back, but seemed to flinch something.

"Yeah I'm alive… my chest hurts like hell, though", L cowed with a voice that was hardly louder than a whisper. Finally the two friends parted.

"Thanks you for saving my life", L said and smiled weakly. Light was trying to calm down his racing heart.

"Hospital, Ryuzaki. You owe me."

After coughing a little bit, he answered:

"Maybe that's for the best. Also, I think I have a broken rib."

"I'll call an ambulance to pick us up."

"Okay."

. . . . . .

"Here, I'll help you downstairs… also, maybe it's best that we are unchained. We don't want any extra attention, right?

L nodded and reached out for his pocket, and pulled out the key. They left the chain on the detective's bed. The black-haired man was almost unable to move, so Light supported his walking all the way downstairs – the stairs were particularly hard for him.

It didn't take long for the ambulance to arrive.

L's breathing had gone hoarse again, and he clearly had trouble breathing – but Light was still so damn relieved that L would finally get some real help. The detective was lying on a bed inside the ambulance, and the paramedics had placed an air mask on his face. Light was sitting beside him, keeping a sharp watch on his friend. L's eyes were half-open when they arrived at the hospital.

"Sir, I'm afraid you'll have to wait outside. One of the doctors will come question you in a minute", a paramedic said. Light nodded and seated on a bench that was located just a couple of steps from L's room. He took out his cellphone and started calling people - they would have to know where the two boys were. It was 6 a.m. and they would all arrive to the Task Force soon.

"Hi dad, sorry for calling this early", Light started when his father's sleepy voice answered to his call.

"What is it? Is it about Ryuzaki? Is he worse?"

"He was dead for several minutes before reacting to CPR."

His father took a quick breath.

"Well done, son… you saved the poor man's life."

"Yeah, we're at the hospital now. Just letting you know."

"I understand. I'll call the others, don't worry about it."

Light ended the call and sighed. _What a morning._

Suddenly a tall man was approaching him. He was wearing a lab coat, so he was definitely a doctor.

"Hello, mister Yagami, I assume?" he asked. Light nodded and they shook hands.

"I am doctor Hidetoshi Haru. I'll be treating your friend, mister Rue, and I would like you to answer some questions."

Light nodded again and prepared his mind. He would have to be extra careful with his answers.

"Tell me, how long has this illness of his lasted?"

"About a week."

"And what made you come in today?"

Light looked at his shoes and gulped. "His heart stopped. He was practically dead, but the CPR saved him." the brown-haired teen looked up.

"Cardiac arrest", the doctor stated.

"Yes... Ryuzaki is a very stubborn person and he demanded that he stayed at home, even after his illness had rapidly become one of the worst ones I've ever seen… he hasn't been able to eat anything at all."

"I see", doctor Haru answered and wrote some notes.

"Say, how did his symptoms start?"

As the morning passed, the sun just wouldn't rise – instead the sky was covered by rain clouds. Thick raindrops were napping on the window glass. Light was watching his reflection from the glass. A tired and messy-looking young man was staring back at him with exhausted hazel-brown eyes.

Light laid back and closed his eyes, letting himself fall asleep.


	7. Chapter 7: Hospital beds

Death note fanfiction:

 _In sickness and in health_

Chapter Seven/Epilogue: Hospital Beds

Light woke up. His neck was hurting after sleeping in an uncomfortable position, and he reluctantly got up from the bench. There was no one around. The brown-haired boy walked to Ryuzaki's room's door and knocked three times.

"Come in", a silent voice answered. Light opened the door and stepped inside.

Ryuzaki was in a white hospital raiment. He was laying on his bed, at least ten different wires attached to his arm. The monitor was slowly beeping. There were IV's just next to Ryuzaki's bed.

The detective himself had an air mask on his face, but Light could see him smiling behind it.

"Hey, Light", he said with a hoarse voice. His eyes were foggy – probably because of all the medication he was getting.

"Hey, Ryuzaki", Light answered, smiling back at him. "How are you?"

"Better already, thanks. And also, no one seems to be suspecting that my ID is fake", L said. The brown-haired teen nodded.  
"Perfect. You'll get out of here and back to work sooner than you think", Light smiled. The black-haired detective laid back his head and closed his eyes.

"These meds are making me kind of sleepy… you can stay here though", he said with a fading voice. After just a couple of seconds L's breaths were regular and deep – and the detective was asleep. Light sighed and looked around in the room. There was an armchair in the back of the room and he seated on it's soft pillows.

He was feeling sleepy himself too. This was thousand times more comfortable than the bench in the corridor. Here he could sleep some more.

. . . . . .

Light woke up when the doctors came in. His mind got brighter when he saw the old man who was with them. _Watari._

"Ryuzaki! Are you alright?" he asked with concern in his voice – though the answer to his question was pretty obvious.

"I'm feeling better already, don't worry", L answered. He had also woken up when all the noise came in the room. Doctor Haru took L's blood a little bit for some more tests.

"What does he have?" Watari asked.

"It is some kind of variation of pneumonia. We're not sure yet – but the medication is working and he will recover perfectly", doctor Haru smiled.

Watari sighed. "Thank God."

. . . . . .

After Watari had left, Light and L were alone once again.

"Hey, look what I found", Light said and took out a chessboard he had found from one of the board drawers. L's eyes brightened.

There was a small table on the back of L's bed, and Light placed the chessboard on it.

"I'm white", Light announced.

"Fine by me."

So Light started the game.

"Light, you that the world's best detective owes you his life, right?" L started the conversation.  
"Yeah?"

"So if there's anything you need..."

"Just focus on getting better", Light laughed. "I'm sure I'll figure something out later."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

THE END

/Soo, that was it, I hope ya'll enjoyed my first story ^-^ Please share your opinion, I would appreciate Your comments c:


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